


Introducing the 'B' Plot

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-11-23
Updated: 2001-11-23
Packaged: 2017-11-01 12:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/356718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to "Lunch with the Kents."  Clark gets news about Lana . . . and makes a discovery about Pete.  Don't worry, Clark and Lex have scenes together, too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Introducing the 'B' Plot

## Introducing the 'B' Plot

by PepperjackCandy

<http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=86102>

* * *

Title: Introducing the 'B' Plot  
Author: PepperjackCandy  
Series: Lunch with the Kents   
Archive : Smallville Slash Archive, my writing at fanfiction.net Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: Clark/Lex  
Category: Established Relationship  
Spoilers for: Cool 

Disclaimer: I own nothing Smallville-related, or related in any other way to Clark Kent, Superman or any of the various creations of the wonderful folks at DC Comics. 

Feedback: Always welcome, either by e-mail or using the review system at fanfiction.net. 

* * *

After school on Monday, Clark and Pete walked into the Beanery. They took a seat in two of a set of four comfortable armchairs and waited for a waitress. 

"So, we expecting a visit from your better half?" Pete asked jokingly. 

Clark's eyes widened. "Pete!" He lowered his voice. "No. He works. You know that." 

Pete grinned, pleased that he'd been able to get a rise out of his friend. "Oh, he does, doesn't he? Especially now that he doesn't have to be 'around' just happening to bump into you." 

Clark sighed and rolled his eyes, then got to work on his studying. 

"Hi, guys." A quiet voice interrupted their studying. 

Clark looked up. "Lana!" 

"You have room for one more?" 

Pete and Clark looked at each other. "Sure." 

Lana took a seat in the third of the four chairs, across from Pete, and pulled out her math book. 

"Where's your other half?" Clark asked, unconsciously using the same words Pete had. 

Lana glared, but not at him. "We broke up." 

"What happened?" Clark asked, feeling a strange pang of . . . sympathy for Lana. 

"Oh. Well, he sort of wanted to . . . take things to the next level, but I wasn't ready for that." Lana blushed prettily. 

Clark realized that she had broken up with Whitney. Really and truly broken up with him. And in a way that sounded relatively permanent. He couldn't believe it. Now that he finally could dream of having the girl he'd so longed for, he didn't want her anymore. He wondered briefly if he was allowed to burst into laughter, or if that would only end with him being sent to the county hospital for observation. 

"I'll kill him." Pete mumbled, surprising Clark who looked at Pete, who was staring straight ahead at Lana. Lana appeared not to have heard, and Clark wished Pete the best, if he was going to pursue the beautiful brunette. 

The three sat and studied for an hour, until Chloe arrived. "Hey, guys!" She said. "Things are actually running on time this week, and . . . Lana." 

"Hey, Chloe." Lana said, smiling widely at Chloe. 

Chloe looked from Lana to Clark and back, clearly trying to size up the status of their relationship. Pete saw her expression and said, "Lana just decided to join us to study." 

Chloe nodded as she took the fourth seat in the square, across from Clark, and took out the novel she had to report on in English. "So, will Whitney be joining us?" She asked nonchalantly. 

Lana shook her head. "No. We broke up." She paused. "Why do I think I'm going to end up having to take out an ad in the Torch explaining why I've suddenly got only two legs instead of four?" 

Chloe simply blinked in astonishment. "You broke up? With Whitney?" She looked at Clark, who simply met her gaze and shrugged. Then she looked at Pete, who, dark complexion notwithstanding, certainly had the expression and body language of someone who was . . . blushing. 

"Clark, can you come over here, please?" Chloe asked as she walked to the front door and stepped outside. 

Clark joined Chloe on the front stoop of the store. "What is it?" 

"What is it?" She quoted his own question back to him. "Exactly my point. Is this, like, bizarro world or something? Have you even _thought_ of asking Lana out?" 

"Well, no." Clark answered before he realized he should have lied. 

"What? Now I _am_ worried. I'm thinking that all of this meteorite radiation has caused you some kind of permanent damage." 

Meanwhile, inside the Beanery, Lana asked, "Have you started your math homework yet?" 

Pete was so surprised, he looked around to see who she was talking to before he realized that she was talking to him, being the only other person around. "Um, no, actually. I was avoiding it." He admitted, embarrassed. 

Lana laughed in a way that erased Pete's embarrassment completely. "That's what I usually do. But I thought I'd try a different tactic. Maybe if I do the math thing first, when I'm fresh, it'll come easier." 

"And?" 

"It's not working. This stuff _still_ doesn't make any sense." She threw her pencil down onto the table in front of her. 

Pete, hardly daring to believe he was doing this, reached into his own book bag. "Well, how about if we work on it together?" He asked. "Maybe together we can conquer this thing." 

Lana smiled up at him. "That'd be nice." 

Pete moved into the chair next to Lana, the one that had been vacated by Clark and opened his textbook. "Let's see . . ." 

Outside, Chloe and Clark were still talking. "You mean that Lana Lang no longer holds any attraction for you?" 

"Well, yeah, she's pretty, but I notice her that way the same way I notice you. You know, it's like 'Oh, she's a pretty girl,' not like 'I'd sell my soul for a date with her.'" 

"You think I'm pretty?" 

The question struck Clark. "Of course I do. It's only the truth. You _are_ pretty, Chloe. Why else would Sean Kelvin have asked you for your phone number? Before he became a meteorite-induced mutant?" He added as if that made all of the difference in the world. 

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me." 

"Well, it's true. If you weren't pretty, Sean never would have given you the time of day, right?" 

Chloe started to blush. 

"Right?" Clark pressed her to answer, looming over her. 

"Right. All right. I guess if he asked for my number, maybe he thought I was pretty, but you thinking that I'm pretty, well, that's completely different. I wasn't even sure you knew I was a girl." 

"Don't worry, Chloe. I'm completely aware that you're a girl. And someday we'll find you the right guy." 

Then, together, they walked back into the Beanery, to find Pete and Lana sitting next to each other, heads bent together over their math textbooks, deeply in conversation. 

"Definitely bizarro world." Chloe said. 

After their study session had ended, Lana went to meet Nell at the flower shop, and Chloe headed off towards her house. Pete was having dinner with the Kents, and so Pete and Clark walked home together. 

"I just can _not_ believe it." Pete kept saying, or variations on the theme of, "Lana Lang and I did our math homework together." 

Clark, for once feeling the wiser one in matters of the heart, because he was in a committed, secure relationship, at least, he hoped that Lex was committed and they were secure . . . . {So much for feeling like I'm the wiser, more experienced one.} "Pete?" 

"Hm?" 

"How do you know that someone's, you know, the one?" 

"Do I look like Dear Abby to you? Look, I'll be lucky if I can hook up with Lana for an actual, planned, study date sometime. Now, if you're asking about Lex, I can tell you that from what I've seen, he's got it as bad for you as you have it for him. What that means is up to you to figure out. Maybe you should ask him." 

"Thanks, Pete." Clark smiled warmly. "And for what it's worth, I think you'd make a great advice columnist. Maybe we could hit Chloe up with the idea." 

"Hm, let's see, Freshman football player, warmed the bench all season, giving love advice? How do you say 'not' where you come from?" 

After dinner, Clark stopped Pete from leaving. "Say, Mom, Dad. Is it all right if I go over to Pete's house?" 

His parents sighed. "All right. But don't stay too late." Martha said after she and Jonathan had held a silent conference between them. 

"Don't worry. I won't. And I'm all caught up on my homework." 

Clark was careful not to let the door bang shut behind him as he left, hustling to catch up with Pete, who was already halfway down the path to the road. 

"Let me guess. I'm covering for your meetings with Lex again, right?" 

"Well, you _were_ the one who told me how bad we have it for each other." Clark grinned. 

"I'm just not sure you should lie to your parents so much." 

Clark sighed. "I know. And I'll tell them, when the time's right. I'm just not sure when that'll be. You know, when _is_ the right time for your barely-legal son to tell you that he has an over-drinking-age _male_ lover?" 

"Mm. Good point. Well, have fun and be careful. Accidents cause people, you know." Pete grinned as they reached the place where their paths would diverge. 

"Ha, ha. Very funny. And good luck with Lana. She's a really nice girl who deserves a great guy like you." 

"Now you're gonna make me blush. Well, go and see Romeo, or Juliet, or whoever he is, then." When Clark didn't hurry on, he said in a firmer, yet still joking tone, "Go!" 

"'Night, Pete." 

Clark's trip to Lex's house brought to mind Lex's question about being able to fly from their second meeting. He knew he ran, but somehow, part of him felt like he was flying. Or perhaps that was just the anticipation of seeing Lex after a whole day without. 

As usual, he squeezed through the bars on the front gate - he'd long since stopped bending them back and forth, fearing they'd break under the strain - and began the walk towards the house. As he came closer, he saw something bright atop the castle. He strained to look, and realized that Lex was standing on the roof, giving him a curious half-smile. 

Clark was tempted to try to scale the outside wall of the building, {Wouldn't that shock the heck out of him?} But instead, he decided to try the normal route. 

Provided he could find the stairs that led to the roof. 

Fortunately, Lex had taken care of that detail. When he stepped in the front door, a kind of rope, made from velvet, or chenille, or some other soft material that Clark was ashamed to know the name of, was stuck to the wall just inside the door. 

{Hm, so apparently, I'm to follow this rope.} Clark thought with amusement as he followed the rope up the stairs, and down a hallway, then up another flight of stairs. 

He was surprised the rope never doubled back on itself, because before it came to an abrupt stop in front of a closed door, Clark was completely, hopelessly, lost. 

He opened the door carefully, hoping not to find some new candidate for Chloe's 'Wall of Weird' lurking on the other side. "Lex?" 

"Out here." 

Clark followed his lover's voice and found him standing by the parapet that edged the roof. "Nice night out." Clark said conversationally, not sure where this was going. 

"Come over here." Lex said, and Clark couldn't help but be drawn towards his charismatic lover. When he reached Lex's side, they kissed. 

"You're right. It is a nice night out." 

Just then, Clark noticed a telescope next to Lex. "Stargazing?" 

"After a fashion." Lex kissed Clark quickly. "After all, what was it Shakespeare said, {it is the star to every wandering bark, whose worth's unknown although his height be taken}?" 

"But, Lex, he was talking about love." 

"So am I." Lex grinned. 

"You were watching me!" Clark was indignant, or possibly insulted, flattered, a little. And relieved that he had told Lex about his normal speed, but still worried, too. After all, If Lex could watch him without him knowing . . . 

"Yep. Nothing I'd rather watch. Especially tonight." 

"What's tonight?" 

Clark wasn't sure if Lex was really surprised, but the hurt in his tone seemed genuine enough. "You don't remember." 

"I'm sure I would, if you'd give me a hint or something." 

"We've been together for two months tonight." 

Clark knew this was wrong. He stopped. He did the math. Twice. "No, Lex. Our first time was only six weeks ago." 

"Right. That's the first time we made love. But we've been together . . . . All right, let's put it this way, if it were Lana Lang, instead of me." Clark winced at the bitterness with which Lex said Lana's name. "Would you be counting from when you took her virginity?" 

"Of course not!" 

"And what would you count from?" 

"I don't know." Clark shook his head futilely. "First date? But that would be, like October, maybe? November? Certainly not two months ago. Or the first kiss, maybe." Some part of his mind did the math on that one. "Oh, my God. I'm so sorry, Lex. It just never occurred to me that our first kiss was any kind of milestone for you. I mean, of course our first kiss was a big milestone for me. But I'm, you know, a kid. You're an adult." 

"Even for a jaded adult like me, a first kiss is still pretty thrilling, when it comes from the person you love." 

"I'm sorry. But I have good news for you. At least I hope it's good." 

"What?" 

"Hear me out first. I promise by the time I finish it'll be good news." 

"All right . . ." 

"Lana and Whitney broke up." Clark could see Lex tense. "And when she told me, I felt . . . nothing. A little sad that a friend had been hurt, but other than that -- nothing. I almost burst out laughing right there in the middle of the Beanery." 

Lex said in a hesitant tone that showed how he hardly dared to believe it to be true. "Nothing?" 

"And," Clark walked over to Lex, wrapping his arms around him and kissing him full on the mouth. "I don't think that Lana will stay in the dating pool long." 

"Oh?" 

"Nope. Looks like one Pete Ross has his eye on Miss Lang. And from the way they were leaning towards each other in the Beanery, I think the interest may become, if it isn't already, mutual." 

"Oh, really?" 

This time, Lex kissed Clark, and somehow Clark could feel that any jealousy that Lex had felt over Lana had dissipated. 

After they came up for air, Lex led Clark to where he had a small picnic set up. "Champagne?" Clark asked, nervously. "I do have to go home to my parents, Lex." 

Lex lifted the bottle from the ice bucket and showed the label to Clark. "Sparkling apple cider. Perfectly acceptable for sixteen year olds." 

Clark sat on the blanket that Lex had spread on the roof as Lex poured the apple cider into two glasses. 

"You're having the cider, too? I thought. . ." 

"Clark, this is about us. About the happiest two months of my life. If I drink something other than what you're drinking, it sort of spoils the symbolism, don't you think?" 

Clark nodded. "Yeah. I could see that." 

"I thought about dessert. You know, pastry, cake, something like that. But instead, I went with a fruit platter sort of deal." Lex explained as he uncovered a platter that was covered with strawberries, kiwi fruit, several varieties of grapes, Clark couldn't keep track of the fruit that Lex named. He'd never heard of some of them. 

"Oh, and that's star fruit. Looks better than it tastes, frankly. And . . . Clark? You with me?" 

Clark nodded, taking a sip of his cider. "Thank you." He said sincerely. 

"For what?" 

Clark shrugged. "For loving me. For being there. For thinking enough of our past that," he paused then decided that, as the spiritual went, he'd better speak when the Spirit said speak, "I can believe that you believe we have a future together." 

"Oh, God. Clark. Of course we have a future. Didn't I tell you that? Way back at the beginning? When you saved my life?" 

Clark nodded. "Maybe it was Lana and Whitney's breakup. It maybe shook me up a little more than I realized. They did seem perfect for each other. I got to thinking about our relationship, and hoped that you were as committed to it as I am." 

"I am. I promise you." Lex said with utmost sincerity. 

Clark pulled Lex over for a kiss to seal this promise. 

"Now, what about that fruit?" Lex asked, a wicked grin on his face. 


End file.
